Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus Among Injection Drug Users and Non-Injection Drug Users in Hamadan, West of Iran

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Middle Eastern Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a hepatotropic virus that is a major public health concern worldwide. Autochthonous HEV is spread through oral feces in unsanitary environments, as well as vertical and, occasionally, blood transfusion. HEV is more common in developing countries, but it has recently become more widespread in developed countries as well. The Middle East (ME) has long been an endemic location for HEV infection. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the seroprevalence of anti-HEV antibodies in ME countries. The author systematically searched five databases, namely ScienceDirect, EMBASE, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar, to identify English-language articles published on or before 25 April 2022. Comprehensive meta-analysis software was used for all statistical analyses (CMA, version 3, BioStat, Englewood, CO, USA). After quality control and exclusion of irrelevant studies, 80 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis. A forest plot showed that the overall pooled seroprevalence of HEV infection in ME countries in the fixed-effect and random-effect models were 21.3% (95% CI: 0.209–0.216) and 11.8% (95% CI: 0.099–0.144), respectively. Furthermore, the findings showed a high level of heterogeneity (I2 = 98.733%) among the included studies. In both fixed-effect and random-effect models, the seroprevalence of HEV infection by country was high in Egypt as compared to other regions, at 35.0% (95% CI: 0.342–0.359), and 34.7% (95% CI: 0.153–0.611), respectively. The seroprevalence of HEV infection by country was high among pregnant women, at 47.9% (95% CI: 0.459–0.499) in the fixed-effect model, and in renal transplant recipients, at 30.8% (95% CI: 0.222–0.410) in the random-effect model. The seroprevalence of HEV infection varies by country and study population in the Middle East. More research is needed to determine the disease’s incidence, morbidity, and mortality in the region, where it is prevalent.

Evidence of hepatitis E virus infections among persons who use crack cocaine from the Midwest region of Brazil

The current study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among persons who use crack from Midwest region of Brazil. Sera samples from 698 users of crack, collected from November 2013 to July 2015 were tested for anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) markers. Of the 698 serum samples, 99 (14.2%) were positive for anti-HEV IgG. Two samples were positive for anti-HEV IgM but both were negative for HEV RNA. The variables independently associated with anti-HEV positivity were increasing age and absence of stable partnership. This study showed high prevalence of past hepatitis E virus infection among persons who use crack.

Prevalence of hepatitis E infection in the general population of Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Hepatitis E is a form of acute viral hepatitis, which is caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV). The study objective was to evaluate the prevalence of HEV to provide an overall relative frequency in Iran. Methods: In this study, databases such as PubMed and Scopus were searched using the following keywords according to MeSH, “Hepatitis E virus”, “Epidemiology”, “Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)” and “Iran”. Then studies which had reported prevalence of HEV were selected. Results: We selected 36 researches out of 9246 for our study. From all the samples, the pooled estimated prevalence of HEV positive was 9.7%. It should be noted that HEV infection's relative frequency varied from 1.1% in Tehran to 46.1% in Ahvaz. Conclusion: HEV is common in Iran, although comparing to some neighboring countries, its prevalence is lower.

Epidemiology of hepatitis E virus in Iran

Iran is known as an endemic country for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection, while there are variations in the epidemiology of HEV infection throughout the country. The available epidemiological studies in different regions of Iran show HEV seroprevalence of 1.1%-14.2% among general population, 4.5% -14.3% among blood donors, 6.1%-22.8% among injecting drug users, 6.3%-28.3% among hemodialysis patients, 1.6%-11.3% among patients infected with other hepatitis viruses, 27.5% among patients with chronic liver disease, 30.8% among kidney transplant recipient patients, and 10%-16.4% among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. These variations reflect differences in the status of public health and hygiene, risk factors, and routes of transmission in different regions and groups. Therefore, it is necessary to review the epidemiology of HEV infection to determine the most prevalent risk factors and routes of transmission, and to evaluate the effectiveness of preventive strategies employed in the public health services of the country. Moreover, the other epidemiological aspects of HEV, including the genotypic pattern, extra hepatic manifestations, and incidence of chronic infection need to be investigated among Iranian population to expand the current knowledge on the epidemiology of HEV and to clarify the real burden of HEV infection. Therefore, this review was performed to provide a general overview regarding the epidemiology of HEV in Iran.

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of common causes of viral hepatitis worldwide with higher prevalence in tropical and subtropical regions. Although epidemics of HEV have been reported from Iran, there are variable reports of this infection out of epidemics from different parts of Iran. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HEV in Iran. METHODS In this systematic review and meta-analysis we searched PubMed, Scopus, Science direct, Google Scholar, Scientific Information Databank (SID), IranMedex, and Magiran for all relevant studies published in either English or Persian languages, up to 2015. Pooled seroprevalence estimates with a DerSimonian-Laird random-effects model were calculated. Statistical heterogeneity among the included studies was evaluated by Cochrane Q statistic and I2. RESULTS 38 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria compromising 18461 participants. The pooled seroprevalence rate of HEV in Iran was estimated about 10% (95% CI=0.09-0.12) with maximum and minimum of 46% (95 % CI=0.42-0.50), and 0.01% (95 % CI=0.000-0.002), respectively. CONCLUSION HEV is common in Iran although the prevalence is lower than some neighbor countries.